Receptacles with self-closing mouth



Sept. 27, 1949. N S 2,483,169

I RECEPTACLES WITH SELF-CLOSING MOUTH Filed Oct. 4, 1945 IN VEN TOR.

Y EM

Patented Sept. 27, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Emil Anderson, Briarclifl Manor, N. Y., assignor to Electrolux Corporation, 01d Greenwich, Conn., a corporation of Delaware Application October 4, 1945, Serial No. 620,334

2 Claims. 1

I and more particularly to dust collecting receptacles for use in vacuum cleaners.

Among the objects of my invention is to provide a self-closing mouth structure for a receptacle of this nature, whereby the receptacle is automatically sealed when removed from the cleaner so as to prevent the spilling of dirt. The selfclosing structure also may be utilized to retain the receptacle in proper position within the cleaner.

Another object of my invention is to provide a receptacle having the above characteristics which may be manufactured cheaply so that the receptacle may be thrown away when filled with dirt, thus eliminating the necessity of emptying the dirt therefrom.

These objects are attained by securing a flat strip of resilient material, such as rubber, to the open end of a bag made of porous paper, or other suitable material, the strip being formed with a slit, the resiliency of the material tending to keep the slit closed at all times, thus providing the bag with a self -closing mouth.

Numerous other objects of the present invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following specification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section of one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an end view of the bag shown in Fig. 1 with the mouth in closed position; and

Fig. 3 is a View similar to Fig. 2 showing the bag mouth in open position.

Referring noW to the drawings, numeral H] indicates a vacuum cleaner casing housing a conventional motor fan unit H and a dust separating member including a cloth bag l2 and a paper dust bag l3 of the present invention located within the cloth bag [2. The motor fan unit produces flow of air from left to right through the easing ID as shown in Fig. 1, drawing air through a flexible hose M connecting in the inlet opening of the front cover l5. When the machine is in operation air enters the casing It with intrained dust and dirt removed from the rug or other surface being cleaned. The dust and dirt is separated from the air a the latter passes through the paper bag |3 and the clean air flows through the cloth bag |2 and out through the rear end of the housing [0. As shown in Fig. 1, the cloth bag I2 is secured to the housing H) by engagement with a gasket mounted between the housing In and the front cover l5. The paper receptacle l3, however, is secured on the front cover I5 independently of the housing It by engagement with an internal boss I8 surrounding the suction opening. The boss [8 is of an external configuration conforming to the configuration of the receptacle opening when the mouth thereof is distended as hereinafter discussed. With such configuration of the boss Hi, the self-closing tendency of the bag mouth will act to resiliently retain the bag in sealing contact with the boss.

The bag body |3, which is preferably formed of porous paper or other like inexpensive material, may be of substantially rectangular cross section when in distended position. The mouth of the bag, however, is formed to provide flat parallel side walls, as by suitable cutting and forming in the manufacturing process or by inwardly folding side gussets not shown. A closure element 2| comprises a simple fiat strip of resilient material such as rubber, the strip being provided with a central straight slit 22 which terminates inwardly of the ends 23 of the strip. The flat parallel side walls of the bag, adjacent to the mouth thereof, extend through the slit 22 and are folded outwardly to provide flanges 2|]. These flanges are secured in any suitable manner, as by gluing or stapling, to the front face of the closure element 2|, on either side of the slit 22. The structure is completed by a provision of a wire lifting handle 24 which is preferably of arcuate configuration, its ends 25 being inserted through the ends 23 of the strip 2| beyond the ends of the slit 22. Thus, the handle may be folded to lie in the plane of the strip 2| or it may be raised vertically in line with the slit when the bag is to be carried thereby.

The operation of the present device is believed to be clearly understandable from the foregoing description. When the bag is to be applied to the boss I8, the sides of the strip 2| are flexed outwardly to space the sides of th slit 22 to provide an aperture of the configuration substantially as shown in Fig. 3. The receptacle will then be slipped over the boss I 8 and will retain its position thereon by virtue of the resiliency of the material of the strip 2|. If desired, a bead may encircle the end of the boss l8 under which the sides of the slit may engage to thus secure the bag to the boss l8. The cover |5 is applied in the normal manner and the cleaning operations may follow. When it is desired to remove the bag the cover is removed and with it the bag still attached thereto. Thereafter a simple withdrawal of the mouth of the bag from the boss l8, will result in an automatic 3 closing of the bag mouth and the bag fully closed may be conveniently transported for disposal by carrying with the handle 24.

It will, of course, be understood that the invention is in no way limited to the specific structure or details herein set forth and that numerous changes and; modifications; may be resorted to Without departure from thespir'it'or scope oi the invention as outlined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A receptacle comprising a bagrhauing flexible walls defining a mouth portion, a single one-piecestrip of self-sustaining resilient material formed with a slit therethrough, the length ofsaid slit being at least equal to the width of the collapsedi mouth portion, means for securing the free end of one of said flexible walls tasaid stripiadiififieniz to one side of said slit, and means for securing the free end of another of said flexible walls to said strip adjacent to the opposite side of said slit, the resiliency: of said material: tending to maintain said slit and mouth portion closed.

2. A receptacle comprising a bag having flexible walls defininga mouth portion, a single one-piece fiat strip of sew-sustaining resilient material formedwith a slit extending therethrough inthe direction of the thickness of said strip, the lengthwise extent of said slit being substantially 4 parallel to the lengthwise extent of said strip, said flexible walls extending through said slit, means for securing the free end of one of said walls to the flat surface of said strip on one side of said slit, and means for securing the free end of another of said Walls to the flat surface of said'strzip on the; opposite side of, said slit, the nesiliencytot said. material tending to-maintain said slit and said mouth portion closed.

EMIL ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following, references are of record in the file of. patent:

UNITED .STATES PATENTS Number Kame Date 749,896 Williams Nov. 24, 1903 l,Il6*,068 Jackson Nov. 3, 1914 1,657,639 Payne Jan. 31, 1928 1,727g92 Adams Sept. l0',. 1929 1,805,134 Gudk-a May 12, 1931 1,973,956 Hickman Sept. 118, 1934 2,098,258 Rewe- Nova. 9, 1937 2,125,354 Meier Aug. 2, 1938 2,162,285 Scott June 13 1939 2,272,394 Armstrong Feb. 10, 19142 

